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Villa Dagmar, Five Years On

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Villa Dagmar, Five Years On Text by Ulrika Lindqvist You know a hotel has truly become part of a city when you can no longer remember what stood there before. That is certainly the case with Villa Dagmar. Since opening in 2021, the boutique hotel in the heart of Stockholm’s Östermalm district has quietly become one of the capital’s most sought after addresses, attracting international visitors and Stockholmers in equal measure. Part of the family owned Diplomat Collection, which also includes the iconic Hotel Diplomat and the recently opened Villa Dahlia, Villa Dagmar offers a distinctly residential atmosphere. Rather than feeling like a traditional luxury hotel, it feels like a beautifully designed city home, where Scandinavian and Italian influences meet in warm, eclectic interiors. It is the kind of place that invites you to slow down. Hours disappear in the room, whether working by the window, soaking in the bath, reading with a glass of wine or simply enjoying the exceptionally comfortable bed that makes leaving the following morning surprisingly difficult. all images courtesy of Villa Dagmar At the heart of the hotel is Restaurant Dagmar. Centred around a leafy courtyard, the restaurant captures the atmosphere of Mediterranean outdoor dining, even on a rainy spring evening. Trädgårdsbaren has become a popular destination for after work drinks, with DJs setting the mood on weekends, while neighbouring Dagges Vinbar offers an intimate setting for a carefully chosen glass of wine. The menu reflects the same relaxed elegance as the surroundings. The Gambas Pil Pil with chilli, garlic, parsley, lemon and grilled sourdough is a standout, while the pizzas remain a reliable favourite throughout the year. During summer, the Club Sandwich and Chicken Salad are seasonal highlights, best accompanied by the restaurant’s well known seasoned fries. Breakfast deserves a mention of its own. Combining a generous buffet with à la carte dishes, it is among the finest hotel breakfasts in Stockholm. Fresh butter rolls, cinnamon buns and chia pudding are not to be missed. Behind the hotel lies the story of Dagmar Bergsten, the woman who inspired both its name and identity. A member of the owning family, she was known for her love of travel, art and lively gatherings. Throughout the early twentieth century, she travelled across Europe and Egypt, building an extensive art collection while drawing inspiration from pioneering women including Karin Larsson, Sonia Delaunay, Gertrude Stein, Hilma af Klint and Peggy Guggenheim. The hotel takes its name from Karl and Dagmar Bergsten’s private residence in Båstad, an elegant villa surrounded by a rose garden where family and friends gathered throughout the 1920s and 1930s. Filled with fresh flowers, European art and carefully collected antiques, it became a place where culture, conversation and hospitality naturally came together. That same spirit continues to shape Villa Dagmar today. “With Villa Dagmar, Hotel Diplomat gains a sister property rooted in the same distinguished tradition of hospitality. At the same time, it is a hotel with its own identity, shaped by new ideas and concepts. We created this space for discerning travellers with high expectations of both quality and hospitality. Having grown up in this hotel family, it feels especially meaningful to lay the foundation for what we hope will become a new Stockholm institution. A vibrant and exclusive meeting place for international visitors and Stockholmers alike, just as Dagmar would have wanted.” – Anna Cappelen, Co Owner and Head of Product and Design, Diplomat Collection Earlier this year, Villa Dagmar celebrated its fifth anniversary, marking five years of combining boutique hospitality with a strong commitment to gastronomy, design and culture. Over the past year, the hotel has also received international recognition, earning the title of Best Hotel in the Rest of Europe at the Condé Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Awards 2025, alongside its first Michelin Key. “It has been an incredible five years, and we would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to both our guests and everyone who has contributed to Villa Dagmar. None of this would have been possible without our dedicated team. Villa Dagmar is our city villa, constantly evolving and finding new expressions and ways to bring people together. Our ambition is to remain at the forefront while continuing to create an open and welcoming place where people can meet, find inspiration and return again and again.” says Anna Cappelen. To mark the anniversary, Executive Chef Håkan Carlsson created Dagmar’s Garden, a seasonal dessert inspired by Dagmar Bergsten’s celebrated garden gatherings in Båstad, where sabayon was said to be a favourite. Combining almond cake, rhubarb, fresh strawberries, elderflower sabayon and roasted white chocolate, the dessert is both elegant and indulgent while remaining wonderfully fresh. Wellbeing is another important part of the experience. The hotel’s compact fitness studio is thoughtfully equipped and, despite being popular with guests, maintains a calm atmosphere. Through a partnership with Vigour Fitness, personal training sessions are also available. For those seeking a slower pace, Dagmar Spirit & Retreat offers skincare, beauty and holistic wellness treatments in collaboration with Mia Hjalmarsson. Individual consultations with dermatologists and therapists ensure that every treatment is tailored to the guest. Five years after opening, Villa Dagmar no longer feels like Stockholm’s newest boutique hotel. Instead, it feels like it has always belonged, a place where thoughtful design, exceptional dining and effortless hospitality come together in one of the city’s most vibrant neighbourhoods.

Travel

Ruby Frida Opens in Stockholm – Ruby Group’s Scandinavian Debut

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Ruby Frida Opens in Stockholm – Ruby Group’s Scandinavian Debut Ruby Group, the Munich-founded hotel brand known for its Lean Luxury concept, opened its first Scandinavian property on 15 June. Ruby Frida is the brand’s first hotel in Sweden and a significant moment in its international expansion.  The choice of the Kungsholmen area in Stockholm is rooted in the neighbourhood’s own musical history. In the decades that shaped Sweden’s outsized influence on global pop, this part of Stockholm was home to influential recording studios and creative spaces. Just steps from the hotel stood the legendary Cheiron Studios, which became one of the world’s most influential pop music operations and a home to some of the era’s most significant producers and songwriters. That legacy is the conceptual heart of Ruby Frida. The design draws on Scandinavian modernism and the unconventional creative energy of the 1960s – warm timber, geometric forms, vinyl culture references, tactile materials, layered lighting, and intimate lounge areas that feel simultaneously nostalgic and contemporary. The building itself is a converted 1960s property, now transformed into a mixed-use destination where the hotel shares the block with offices, restaurants, and retail. “Ruby Frida has a strong connection to Stockholm’s creative soul, with a design and atmosphere shaped by the city’s music heritage. It’s created to feel genuinely Stockholm — open, social and full of character, where guests and locals can meet in a destination with its own clear personality,” says Michael Struck, CEO and Founder of Ruby Group. Music runs through the entire stay, from curated sound experiences and live performances in the evenings to Marshall amplifiers and Bluetooth speakers in every room, connecting guests to the city’s creative life beyond the hotel walls. The 187 rooms are divided across three categories: Cosy, Lovely and Wow, with select rooms offering private balconies overlooking Stockholm. The bar and lounge operate around the clock, with an Italian-inspired snacks menu and international breakfast. Self check-in and a fully digital guest journey keep the experience frictionless. “On Ruby, every hotel begins with the city it operates in. With Ruby Frida, Stockholm’s creative rhythm has been allowed to take form in the design — every detail draws inspiration from the city’s music heritage and cultural energy,” says Lauren Krostue, VP Global Brand Management of Ruby.   The hotel is well positioned for both leisure and business travel: ten minutes to Stockholm Central by public transport, around 40 minutes to Arlanda Airport, and walking distance to Gamla Stan, the waterfront, and the city’s growing creative scene. Rooms start from 1,100 SEK per night, excluding breakfast. IHG One Rewards members can book directly via the IHG app. Ruby Frida is the brand’s first step into Scandinavia, but not its last, with ambitions to grow to more than 120 hotels globally within the next decade and over 250 within 20 years. Founded in 2013 by Michael Struck, Ruby now operates over 20 hotels across Europe’s major cities, including London, Vienna, Amsterdam, Zurich, Rome, and Hamburg. Since early 2025, the brand has been part of IHG Hotels & Resorts, giving it access to IHG’s global distribution network and the IHG One Rewards loyalty programme.

Travel, Uncategorized

Not Just a Renovation: The Reinvention of Sheraton Stockholm

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Not Just a Renovation: The Reinvention of Sheraton Stockholm images courtesy Sheraton  Sheraton Stockholm is in the middle of a transformation that goes far beyond new carpets and fresh paint. It’s a rethink of purpose, identity and relevance; a shift from being a global chain outpost to becoming a place with a point of view.    In this conversation, Elin Roquet reflects on why a traditional renovation would have been too small a gesture, how “A Journey Towards the Light” became the guiding principle for every decision, and what it takes to lead a long, complex redesign without losing momentum.    The result is a hotel aiming to feel less like a brand template and more like a lived‑in, confident part of Stockholm’s rhythm.     What convinced you that Sheraton Stockholm needed a full transformation rather than a traditional renovation? Because a cosmetic update would have been dishonest. The problem was never the surface, it was relevance. The city had moved forward. The hotel had stayed put. At that point, changing the carpets isn’t enough. You have to question the whole thing. What are we actually for, and why would anyone choose us tomorrow?   How would you describe the identity you’re shaping for the “new” Sheraton Stockholm? International in feel, local in confidence. Not sterile luxury, something more lived-in. Where it feels just as natural to stop by for a glass of wine as it does to check in for a week. Less “global chain”, more someone’s beautifully considered home.   What does “A Journey Towards the Light” mean to you in practical terms? It’s a filter for everything. Light shapes how we think about materials, movement, how we meet the guest. Less heavy, less closed, more air. In practice, it means removing friction. Anything that feels dark, complicated or unnecessary gets cut.   What did you consciously decide to leave behind? The idea of being “for everyone” in a way that makes you relevant to no one. And anything generic — that feeling of being interchangeable with a hotel in any other city.   Part of what drove that decision is that luxury and premium have been applied so broadly and so indiscriminately across the global hospitality market that the labels have genuinely lost their meaning. When everything is five-star, nothing is. The lifestyle segment matters more than ever right now precisely because it’s the space where taste, curation and personality still carry weight. That’s where we want to operate. When you walk into the renovated rooms, what detail tells you the design is working? When it feels quiet in the right way. Not literally, mentally. When the room doesn’t ask anything of you and you land without needing to adjust, rearrange or think. That’s when you know the proportions, the light and the materials are right.   Can you point to a moment where you had to make a difficult trade-off? Several. But the clearest one was how far to open up the public spaces. Design-wise, you want to dissolve every boundary. Operationally, you need control. We had to find a balance that still feels free but actually works on a Saturday night when every seat is taken.   What moment in this transformation most tested you as a leader? The middle. Not the beginning, when everything is possibility, and not the end, when you can see the finish line, but the middle, when it’s still far away and everyone is tired. That’s where leadership is actually decided.   How do you sustain energy in a team going through something this long and complex? By being very clear about why we’re doing it. People can handle more than you think, but only if they understand what they’re building. And you have to actually celebrate progress along the way, because otherwise it just feels like an endless construction site with no horizon. Can you share a moment where Marriott’s global standards and Scandinavian hospitality philosophy pulled in different directions? It happens more than you’d think. Marriott is built on structure and recognition, while Scandinavian hospitality is more intuitive and understated. A concrete example is the level of formality in how we meet guests. We’ve pushed it toward the personal, even when that means stretching the framework a little.   What role do you want Sheraton Stockholm to play in the city’s cultural and social life? I want it to be part of the city’s rhythm. A place where things happen but without feeling like they’re trying to, where you end up by chance and stay longer than you planned. If we get it right, people won’t think of it as “the hotel”. They’ll think of it as “where we go”.   How are guest expectations changing? People are more sophisticated now and they see through anything built on autopilot. Correct service isn’t enough anymore, it has to feel like something. We’ve shifted from optimizing processes to curating experiences. Less standard, more point of view.   What do you hope guests will still remember ten years from now? A feeling rather than a specific detail. That it was somewhere they felt at ease without quite being able to explain why. And maybe a night at the bar that ran a little longer than planned.   If you had to describe the future Sheraton Stockholm in one sentence? A place that Stockholm didn’t know it was missing, until now.

Travel

Radisson Blu Plaza Helsinki

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Radisson Blu Plaza Helsinki: Luxury and Comfort in the Heart of the City text Ulrika Lindqvist and Sandra Myhrberg In mid August, Editor in Chief Sandra Myhrberg and Fashion Editor Ulrika Lindqvist traveled to Helsinki to produce the cover story for Odalisque Issue 16, featuring actress Laura Birn. During the stay, they checked into Radisson Blu Plaza Helsinki, a hotel the editorial team is always happy to return to again for its understated luxury, impeccable service, and central location. LocationThe hotel is centrally located near Helsinki Central Station, The Finnish National Theatre, the Ateneum Art Museum, and many other key spots. This was ideal for us, as we spent our first day exploring beautiful Helsinki while scouting locations, and our second day on our feet shooting with Laura. The shoot unfolded across Helsinki’s architectural landmarks, with the city itself becoming part of the story. Radisson Blu Plaza offered excellent service, received several clothing deliveries ahead of our arrival, and even allowed us to photograph in their stunning interiors. The HotelHoused in a historic building dating back to 1917, the year Finland gained independence, Radisson Blu Plaza Helsinki carries a sense of heritage that feels deeply rooted in the city. The hotel has occupied the building since 1999, blending classic architecture with contemporary comfort. Ulrika even had time to try the well-equipped gym, although we did not manage a sauna visit this time. We look forward to returning to enjoy both wonderful Helsinki and a relaxing sauna session. About the Hotel• 302 beautifully designed rooms• Prime central location in Helsinki, Finland• Room categories include Executive Suite, Plaza Suite, Junior Suite, Executive Business Class, Business Class and Standard• Five meeting rooms• A restaurant, bar and lounge that quickly became favorite spots for us to unwind All images Courtesy of Radisson Blu Plaza Helsinki 

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